Participation up for Bluffton High boys lacrosse

Bluffton High sophomore Henri Loper watched participation in boys lacrosse drop through his first two years with the program.

But behind a new head coach and some in-school recruiting efforts by Loper and his teammates, the Bobcats are starting to rebuild this spring.

“We’ve really been spreading the word around the school, a lot of friends telling friends to come out and play,” Loper said.

With about 30 players out for boys lacrosse, Loper said the roster size has increased by about 10 from last year’s 0-12 season.

Bluffton was one of the first schools in the Lowcountry to offer lacrosse when the school opened in 2004.

The Bobcats originally competed in the South Carolina Lacrosse League and made the SCHSL playoffs in 2010, the first year the sport was sanctioned by state’s prep sports governing body.

But participation began to dwindle and Bluffton missed the postseason the last two years.

“We had some real strong players at the beginning, but after they graduated it was more of a building program,” Loper said. “We never got back to that level, ready to compete.”

Herman Kramer, Bluffton’s first-year head coach, said he will continue to focus on the basics with so many players who are new to the sport.

Kramer moved to Bluffton about two years ago from Virginia, where he became interested in lacrosse, and coached locally at the youth level.

After previous coach Gene McCune resigned last year, Bluffton received no interest from prospective coaches, so Kramer agreed to take over near the end of the summer.

Kramer began working with the Bobcats in November and said he has seen significant progress since then.

“I think what I’ve seen is the skill level continues to come up,” he said. “Basic skills, I think, are increasing. Now we’re starting to connect some of the dots, taking the fundamentals to the next level.”

Those fundamentals will continue to be a work in progress against a schedule filled with teams that have more experience and have had recent success.

The starting lineup and players’ positions could remain fluid until midseason as the newcomers improve their skills and the returns pick up Kramer’s system.

“Our biggest challenge is just the speed of play,” Kramer said. “Lacrosse is often called the fastest game on two feet and there’s a reason for that. There’s a lot of movement. I would imagine that a lot of the teams we face will keep a face-paced game.”